Beautification plan: Jageshwar temple to focus on cleanliness

Temples at Jageshwar in Almora district are among the top 25 model monuments in India.(HT FILE)

DEHRADUN: After being identified by the Union tourism ministry among the top 25 model monuments, the temples in Almora’s Jageshwar town are now focussing on cleanliness of temples and its surrounding areas by forming special monitoring committees to provide feedback based on opinions of tourists, under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

The Union tourism ministry recently notified the group of 124 temples of Jageshwar town, 26 km away from Almora district headquarters, as one among 25 model monuments of the country. It decided to further beautify the site keeping the cleanliness in mind. The ministry has asked the Uttarakhand government to create a special oversight committee to monitor cleanliness and environmental unfriendly factors in temple areas.

According to the central government, the committee will comprise of representatives from local tourism office, local culture or ASI offices, hoteliers association, tour operators association and tourism department. The committee will be mandated to inspect the temple sites on cleanliness after every fortnight.

It will also assess adequacy of facilities and infrastructure to keep the place clean and submit the visit report to the Swachha Bharat Mission project management unit of the Union tourism ministry within two days of the visit. As per the Centre’s directive, it will also be mandatory for the committee to seek the suggestions of four-five foreign and domestic tourists on cleanliness to improvise further.

The letter from the union tourism department - carrying the guidelines for constitution of a monitoring committee and the feedback on cleanliness - was forwarded to chief secretary S Ramaswamy on July 19 asking for appointment of the committees within two weeks.

Located at an altitude of 1,870 m, Jageshwar is a known temple town and also an abode of one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of the Hindu mythology. It’s one of the most visited destinations for both foreign and domestic tourists in Uttarakhand